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News digest
This frequently updated news digest on the subject of Coverage highlights key articles from major journals and news publications. The digest is a free service of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. All rights reserved. Sign up to receive the digest free via e-mail.
| Nov 20, 2009 |
Reid Pushes For Votes on Health-care Bill Washington Post, Lori Montgomery and Shailagh Murray, 11/20/2009 Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid worked Thursday to nail down the votes needed to move to a final debate on health-care legislation, but a tepid assessment of the public insurance plan he crafted emerged as the latest potential obstacle to the passage of the far-reaching changes. |
| Nov 20, 2009 |
House OKs $210 Billion to Help Out Doctors Associated Press, Erica Werner, 11/20/2009 The Democrat-controlled House voted Thursday to add more than $200 billion to the deficit to prevent steep Medicare payment cuts to doctors, a move Republicans denounced as a political payoff. |
| Nov 19, 2009 |
Senate Health Plan Seeks to Add Coverage to 31 Million New York Times, Robert Pear and David M. Herszenhorn, 11/19/2009 Democratic leaders in the Senate on Wednesday unveiled their proposal for overhauling the health care system, outlining legislation that they said would cover most of the uninsured while reducing the federal budget deficit. |
| Nov 18, 2009 |
White House Backs Bill Supported by Doctors' Group Reuters, Donna Smith, 11/18/2009 The White House on Wednesday urged Congress to pass a bill to boost Medicare payments to doctors, a step that could shore up support from an influential doctors' lobbying group for a broad healthcare overhaul. |
| Nov 18, 2009 |
Mammography Outcry Points to Trouble for Healthcare Reform Los Angeles Times, Noam N. Levey, 11/18/2009 A core tenet of the healthcare overhaul President Obama is pushing through Congress is that medical care can be improved – and costs contained – if the country relies more on experts to determine which procedures and treatments work best. |
| Nov 18, 2009 |
Coverage Mandate Under Fire Wall Street Journal, Naftali Bendavid, 11/18/2009 Conservatives have opened a new front in the health-care debate with the assertion that under the Democrats' plan, people who refuse to buy health insurance could spend five years in prison. |
| Nov 16, 2009 |
AP Poll: Fine Print In Health Care Prompts Worries Associated Press, Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Trevor Tompson, 11/16/2009 What's it going to cost me? |
| Nov 16, 2009 |
Health Bill Foes Solicit Funds for Economic Study Washington Post, Michael D. Shear, 11/16/2009 The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and an assortment of national business groups opposed to President Obama's health-care reform effort are collecting money to finance an economic study that could be used to portray the legislation as a job killer and threat to the nation's economy, according to an e-mail solicitation from a top Chamber official. |
| Nov 13, 2009 |
Number of Insured Varies by Bill Wall Street Journal, Janet Adamy, 11/13/2009 When the Senate unveils its health-care bill, all eyes will be on the price tag. But an equally significant number may be how many people get health insurance under the legislation. |
| Nov 11, 2009 |
AP Sources: Reid Eyes Payroll Tax Hike On Wealthy Associated Press, David Espo, 11/11/2009 Majority Leader Harry Reid is considering a plan for higher payroll taxes on the upper-income earners to help finance health care legislation he intends to introduce in the Senate in the next several days, numerous Democratic officials said Wednesday. |
| Nov 11, 2009 |
Health savings? No one knows Politico, Carrie Budoff Brown, 11/11/2009 Barack Obama ran for president on a promise of saving the typical family $2,500 a year in lower health care premiums. |
| Nov 10, 2009 |
Bill Clinton Meets with Senate Dems on Health Care Associated Press, Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, 11/10/2009 Former President Bill Clinton knows just how high the political stakes are in the fight to overhaul America's health care system. |
| Nov 10, 2009 |
Catholic Church Emerges as Key Player in Legislative Battle Wall Street Journal, Peter Wallsten, 11/10/2009 Injecting itself aggressively into the health-care debate, the Roman Catholic Church in America has emerged as a major political force with the potential to upend a key piece of President Barack Obama's agenda. |
| Nov 10, 2009 |
Medical Association Backs Health System Reform Associated Press, Monica Rhor and Lindsey Tanner, 11/10/2009 The American Medical Association on Monday rebuffed dissident members and voted to stick with support for ongoing health reform efforts, while reiterating wariness over proposals that threaten doctors' pocketbooks and independence. |
| Nov 8, 2009 |
Sweeping Health Care Plan Passes House New York Times, Carl Hulse and Robert Pear, 11/08/2009 Handing President Obama a hard-fought victory, the House narrowly approved a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s health care system on Saturday night, advancing legislation that Democrats said could stand as their defining social policy achievement. |
| Nov 6, 2009 |
Health Bill Garners Endorsements Wall Street Journal, Naftali Bendavid and Janet Adamy, 11/06/2009 House Democrats' health bill got a boost Thursday with endorsements by AARP and the American Medical Association, which President Barack Obama seized on to push for support with hours ticking down before a scheduled vote Saturday evening on the House floor. |
| Nov 6, 2009 |
Details on Health Care Bills in House, Senate Associated Press, Erica Werner and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, 11/06/2009 House Democratic leaders are offering a $1.2 trillion, 10-year health overhaul bill that expands coverage to millions of Americans. |
| Nov 5, 2009 |
House Dems In Final Push On Health Care Associated Press, Erica Werner and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, 11/05/2009 The House is steaming toward a historic vote on President Barack Obama's remake of the U.S. health care system, with Democratic leaders increasingly confident and the powerful seniors' lobby AARP about to get on board. |
| Nov 5, 2009 |
Haggling Over Abortion Deal in Health Bill New York Times, Robert Pear and David M. Herszenhorn, 11/05/2009 House Democratic leaders struggled Wednesday to strike a deal that would restrict the use of federal money to pay for abortions under sweeping health care legislation headed for debate on the House floor this week. |
| Nov 4, 2009 |
Health Bills Too Timid On Cutting Costs, Experts Say Washington Post, Ceci Connolly, 11/04/2009 Proposals make only trims where broader changes are needed, critics argue. |
| Nov 4, 2009 |
Health Bill Could Slip Into Next Year Politico, Chris Frates & Carrie Budoff Brown, 11/04/2009 Democrats have blown so many deadlines for getting health reform done this year that insiders are increasingly skeptical they can finish by year’s end — and some even suggest the effort might slip to a new deadline, before the State of the Union address. |
| Nov 2, 2009 |
Obama Strategy on Health Care Legislation Appears to Be Paying Off New York Times, Robert Pear and Sheryl Gay Stolberg, 11/02/2009 After months of plodding work by five Congressional committees and weeks of back-room bargaining by Democratic leaders, President Obama’s arms-length strategy on health care appears to be paying dividends, with the House and the Senate poised to take up legislation to insure nearly all Americans. |
| Nov 2, 2009 |
Health Care Plan Hits Rich With Big Tax Increases Associated Press, Stephen Ohlemacher, 11/02/2009 The typical family would be spared higher taxes from the House Democratic plan to overhaul health care, and their low-income neighbors could come out ahead. |
| Oct 30, 2009 |
House Dems Unveil Health Bill, Cheered On by Obama Associated Press, David Espo, 10/30/2009 Cheered by President Barack Obama, House Democrats rolled out landmark legislation Thursday to extend health care to tens of millions who lack coverage, impose sweeping new restrictions on the insurance industry and create a government-run option to compete with private insurers. |
| Oct 30, 2009 |
Business and Drug Groups Blast Bill; Doctors Are Uneasy The Hill, Jeffrey Young, 10/30/2009 Business groups blasted the House healthcare bill released Thursday, and a key trade association for doctors declined to endorse it. |
| Oct 28, 2009 |
Senate Health Care Bill Draws Skeptics, Opponents Reuters, Donna Smith and John Whitesides, 10/28/2009 A health care reform bill with a government-run insurance option faced an uncertain future in the Senate on Tuesday, with many centrist Democrats uncommitted and Senator Joe Lieberman strongly opposed. |
| Oct 27, 2009 |
Public Option Push in Senate Comes With Escape Hatch New York Times, Robert Pear and David M. Herszenhorn, 10/27/2009 The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, sided with his party’s liberals on Monday and announced that he would include a government-run insurance plan in health care legislation that he plans to take to the Senate floor within a few weeks. |
| Oct 26, 2009 |
Can 'Bundled' Payments Help Slash Health Costs? USA Today, Phil Galewitz, 10/26/2009 An hour into knee replacement surgery — with U2's I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For playing in the background — Yogesh Mittal smiles as he raises the left leg of his patient, 76-year-old Frank Morrow. |
| Oct 26, 2009 |
US Health Care System Wastes Up To $800B A Year Reuters, Maggie Fox, 10/26/2009 The U.S. healthcare system is just as wasteful as President Barack Obama says it is, and proposed reforms could be paid for by fixing some of the most obvious inefficiencies, preventing mistakes and fighting fraud, according to a Thomson Reuters report released on Monday. |
| Oct 26, 2009 |
If You Build A Coverage Mandate, Will They Come? Washington Post, Alec MacGillis, 10/26/2009 People are more likely to buckle their seat belt than follow the speed limit, even though the penalties for speeding are higher. |
| Oct 23, 2009 |
Offer to Let States Opt Out of Health Plan Gains Support Wall Street Journal, Greg Hitt and Janet Adamy, 10/23/2009 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, stepping deeper into the health-care debate, put his weight Thursday behind a proposal that would create a new government-run insurance plan while giving states the option not to participate. |
| Oct 23, 2009 |
Nancy Pelosi Lacks Votes for Most Sweeping Public Option Politico, Mike Allen, 10/23/2009 Speaker Nancy Pelosi counted votes Thursday night and determined she could not pass a "robust public option" — the most aggressive of the three forms of a public option House Democrats have been considering as part of a national overhaul of health care. |
| Oct 22, 2009 |
Congress Cranks Up Pressure On Insurance Industry Reuters, Donna Smith and John Whitesides, 10/22/2009 Democrats in the U.S. Congress moved on Wednesday to repeal the health insurance industry's exemption from antitrust laws, cranking up the pressure in a growing battle over President Barack Obama's healthcare reform plans. |
| Oct 22, 2009 |
Democrats Lose Big Test Vote on Health Legislation New York Times, Robert Pear and David M. Herszenhorn, 10/22/2009 Democrats lost a big test vote on health care legislation on Wednesday as the Senate blocked action on a bill to increase Medicare payments to doctors at a cost of $247 billion over 10 years. |
| Oct 22, 2009 |
Key Senators May Rebuff Obama On Health Care Associated Press, Charles Babington, 10/22/2009 The Democrats' control of a hefty majority in the Senate — plus the House — would suggest that President Barack Obama is within reach of overhauling the nation's health care system this fall. But the numbers mask a more complicated reality. |
| Oct 21, 2009 |
In Mass., Most Docs Support State's Health Mandate National Public Radio's All Things Considered, Richard Knox, 10/21/2009 As Massachusetts enters its fourth year under a sweeping law that aims to get nearly everybody health insurance, there's new evidence on what one crucial constituency thinks about it: doctors. |
| Oct 21, 2009 |
Liberals Increase Pressure For Public Insurance Plan In Health Bill Washington Post, Shailagh Murray and Lori Montgomery, 10/21/2009 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is facing intensifying pressure from liberal lawmakers to revive a proposed government insurance plan before health-care reform legislation reaches the Senate floor, amid signs that moderate Democrats may be warming to the idea. |
| Oct 20, 2009 |
Public Option Gains Support Washington Post, Dan Balz and Jon Cohen, 10/20/2009 Clear majority now backs plan; Americans still divided on overall packages. |
| Oct 20, 2009 |
Health Insurance Worries Keep Rising Associated Press, Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, 10/20/2009 The number of Americans worried about losing their current health care coverage keeps rising, even as President Barack Obama and a Democrat-led Congress strive to extend society's safety net to cover the uninsured, a new poll has found. |
| Oct 20, 2009 |
Basic Medicare Premium to Rise 15% Next Year New York Times, Robert Pear, 10/20/2009 The basic Medicare premium will shoot up next year by 15 percent, to $110.50 a month, federal officials said Monday. |
| Oct 16, 2009 |
Wellness Incentives Could Create Health-Care Loophole Washington Post, David S. Hilzenrath, 10/16/2009 Get in shape or pay a price. |
| Oct 15, 2009 |
Scenario: U.S. Healthcare Reform Reaches New Stage Reuters, John Whitesides, 10/15/2009 Democratic leaders in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are negotiating ways to merge five healthcare bills into a single measure in each chamber that will rein in costs, regulate insurers and expand coverage. |
| Oct 15, 2009 |
Democrats Fire Back at Health Industry Washington Post, Lori Montgomery and David S. Hilzenrath, 10/15/2009 Days after the insurance lobby began an aggressive campaign against a Senate plan to overhaul the nation's health-care system, senior Democrats fired back, threatening Wednesday to revoke the industry's long-standing antitrust exemption. |
| Oct 15, 2009 |
White House Team Joins Talks on Health Care Bill New York Times, David M. Herszenhorn and Robert Pear, 10/15/2009 A delegation of senior White House officials met on Wednesday at the Capitol with the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, and the chairmen of the Finance and health committees, as Democrats turned their full attention to merging competing versions of the comprehensive health care legislation. |
| Oct 14, 2009 |
After a Key Vote, Health Overhaul Now Turns to Harry Reid TIME magazine.com, Jay Newton-Small, 10/14/2009 Now that the last of the five congressional committees with jurisdiction over health care, Max Baucus' Senate Finance Committee, has passed its much anticipated reform bill, it falls to majority leader Harry Reid to cobble together something that can pass the Senate. |
| Oct 14, 2009 |
Snowe Suggests Scenario For Government-Run Option Associated Press, Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, 10/14/2009 Sen. Olympia Snowe, the only Republican to support the Finance Committee's health care bill, said Wednesday she could foresee a government-run plan that would "kick in" if private insurers failed to live up to expectations. |
| Oct 14, 2009 |
Senate Committee Passes Healthcare Bill Financial Times, Anna Fifield and Ed Luce in Washington, 10/14/2009 President Barack Obama said on Tuesday’s Senate committee vote for a centrist $829bn healthcare bill brought the US closer to his goal of achieving universal healthcare reform but warned Democrats “not to pat ourselves on the back” given the long road ahead. |
| Oct 13, 2009 |
Congress Is Split on Effort to Tax Costly Health Plans New York Times, David M. Herszenhorn and Robert Pear, 10/13/2009 A proposed tax on high-cost, or “Cadillac,” health insurance plans has touched off a fierce clash between the Senate and the House as they wrestle over how to pay for legislation that would provide health benefits to millions of uninsured Americans. |
| Oct 9, 2009 |
Report: Health Bills Show Some Price Gaps USA Today, John Fritze, 10/09/2009 Older Americans who buy health insurance on their own could pay nearly 50% more in premiums under the Senate Finance Committee bill compared with other versions pending in Congress, an independent study says. |
| Oct 8, 2009 |
Health Care Bill Gets Green Light in Cost Analysis New York Times, Robert Pear and David M. Herszenhorn, 10/08/2009 The Senate Finance Committee will vote next Tuesday on legislation to revamp the health care system, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic majority leader, said on Thursday. |
| Oct 7, 2009 |
AP Poll: Health Care Overhaul Has a Pulse Associated Press, Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Trevor Tompson, 10/07/2009 The fever has broken. |
| Oct 7, 2009 |
Obama Finds Support Outside Party and Washington For Healthcare Plan Los Angeles Times, Peter Nicholas, 10/07/2009 At the president's request, Republicans, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and independents from beyond the Beltway offer qualified support for healthcare overhaul. |
| Oct 7, 2009 |
State-Run Health Plans Garner Support Wall Street Journal, Greg Hitt and Janet Adamy, 10/07/2009 Some influential centrist Democrats in the Senate are warming to a compromise that envisions health-insurance plans run by state governments, and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger added his voice Tuesday to a small group of Republicans expressing support for a Democratic-led overhaul plan. |
| Oct 6, 2009 |
In Debate on Health, It's Coverage vs. Cost New York Times, Robert Pear, 10/06/2009 As Democrats prepare to take up health care legislation on the floor of the Senate and the House, they are facing tough choices about two competing priorities. |
| Oct 5, 2009 |
Insurers Say Coverage Penalty Has To Have Bite Associated Press, Erica Werner, 10/05/2009 The health insurance industry doesn't want Congress to let you off easy if you decide to ignore a proposed requirement that all Americans must have coverage. |
| Oct 5, 2009 |
States Resist Medicaid Growth Washington Post, Shailagh Murray, 10/05/2009 Governors fear for their budgets. |
| Oct 2, 2009 |
Doctors Fight Penalty for Heavy Test Use Wall Street Journal, Greg Hitt and Janet Adamy, 10/02/2009 Doctors are trying to remove a provision in the Senate's latest health bill that would cut Medicare payments to those who administer the most tests and treatments. |
| Oct 2, 2009 |
Panel Easing Penalties for Those Without Insurance New York Times, Robert Pear and Jackie Calmes, 10/02/2009 The Senate Finance Committee voted Thursday to soften the impact of financial penalties that would be imposed on people who did not obtain insurance under sweeping health care legislation. |
| Oct 2, 2009 |
Senate Republicans Criticize Taxes in Health-Care Bill Washington Post, Lori Montgomery and Shailagh Murray, 10/02/2009 As it drew close Thursday to finishing work on a health-care overhaul, a key Senate panel engaged in a spirited debate about whether the measure is "riddled" with tax increases that would violate President Obama's campaign pledge not to raise taxes on middle-class Americans. |
| Oct 1, 2009 |
Senate Finance Panel Has Votes To Pass Health Bill, Baucus Says Washington Post, Lori Montgomery and Ceci Connolly, 10/01/2009 Democrats on a key Senate panel backed off a plan to impose billions of dollars in new taxes on senior citizens with catastrophic medical expenses Wednesday and defeated Republican amendments on abortion, immigration and other divisive issues, aiming to bring a comprehensive health-care overhaul before the full Senate within two weeks. |
| Oct 1, 2009 |
Abortion Language Heats Up Healthcare Battle Los Angeles Times, Noam N. Levey, 10/01/2009 Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee are at odds over how far to go in preventing insurance companies from covering the procedure for woman who would get subsidies. |
| Sep 30, 2009 |
Without National Reform, States Could Pay More Reuters, Lisa Lambert, 09/30/2009 If the U.S. Congress fails to reform health care, states will spend more on their programs for the poor than they currently pay out, according to a new report on Wednesday. |
| Sep 30, 2009 |
Poll: Americans Willing to Fund Health Reform Reuters, David Morgan, 09/30/2009 Most Americans would pay higher taxes to fund healthcare reforms that provide the best quality of care, but only a minority expects Washington to deliver it, according to a survey released on Wednesday. |
| Sep 30, 2009 |
Key Senate Panel Votes Down 'Public Option' For Healthcare Los Angeles Times, Janet Hook, 09/30/2009 Centrists side with Republicans in a blow to advocates of a government program to compete with private plans. The issue will likely be revisited on the Senate floor and in committee with the House. |
| Sep 29, 2009 |
In Delivering Care, More Isn't Always Better, Experts Say Washington Post, Ceci Connolly, 09/29/2009 A dirty word in health-care reform is "rationing," a term that conjures up the image of faceless government bureaucrats denying lifesaving therapies in the name of cutting costs. |
| Sep 25, 2009 |
Fence-Sitters Hold Sway in U.S. Health-Care Debate Wall Street Journal, Gerald F. Seib, 09/25/2009 Who will determine the outcome of the great health debate? Well, a lot of senators and House members, obviously, but also a small slice of the public that has yet to decide what it thinks. |
| Sep 24, 2009 |
Geography Makes Difference in Health Coverage Associated Press, Mike Schneider, 09/24/2009 Where someone lives makes a difference in whether or not that person has health insurance. |
| Sep 24, 2009 |
Democrats Win First Battles Over Plans to Curtail Health Costs Bloomberg, Nicole Gaouette, 09/24/2009 Senate Finance Committee members clashed over Medicare cost-cutting plans, with Democrats winning the first skirmishes yesterday over how to curb spending in the federal program for the elderly. |
| Sep 24, 2009 |
SEIU Takes Pragmatic Stance on Health Care Reform Politico, Jonathan Martin, 09/24/2009 A top-ranking SEIU official says that the powerful union could support a health care bill that doesn’t include a public option — a striking contrast to the more hard-line stance on the issue taken by the new president of the AFL-CIO. |
| Sep 23, 2009 |
A System Breeding More Waste New York Times, David Leonhardt, 09/23/2009 The debate over medical malpractice can often seem theological. On one side are those conservatives and doctors who have no doubt that frivolous lawsuits and Democratic politicians beholden to trial lawyers are the reasons American health care is so expensive. |
| Sep 23, 2009 |
Lines Drawn as Senate Panel Begins Debating Health Bill Washington Post, Shailagh Murray and Lori Montgomery, 09/23/2009 Democrats and Republicans formed clear battle lines Tuesday as the Senate Finance Committee opened a high-stakes debate on health-care legislation proposed last week by the panel's chairman. |
| Sep 22, 2009 |
Orszag Sees Health-Care Overhaul Passing in Six Weeks Bloomberg, Roger Runningen and Edwin Chen, 09/22/2009 Congress will likely complete a health-care bill within six weeks, and a measure being drafted by the Senate Finance Committee may provide the basis for final legislation, White House Budget Director Peter Orszag said. |
| Sep 22, 2009 |
Doctors Need A Say On Health Insurance Philadelphia Inquirer, Risa Lavizzo-Mourey and William L. Roper (Opinion-Editorial), 09/22/2009 A majority backs both public and private programs. |
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